Bargain hunting halted the decline of the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) on Wednesday, Nov. 12, but the peso weakened to the 59-level against the US dollar.
After a three-day slide, the main stocks gauge rose 1.51 percent to 5,714.02 points, and the broader All Shares by 0.96 percent to 3,498.87 points.
Most of the sectoral gauges also rose during the day – Services, 2.66 percent; Financials, 2.25 percent; Industrial, 1.60 percent; Mining and Oil, 0.71 percent; and Property, 0.09 percent.
Only the Holding Firms finished in the red after declining 0.06 percent.
Volume reached 1.3 billion shares, amounting to PHP6 billion. Advancers led decliners at 102 to 86, while 50 shares were unchanged.
“The recovery came despite the peso weakening to the P59/USD level again, reflecting continued external pressure. Overall, sentiment improved slightly as traders looked for short-term gains amid oversold market conditions,” said Luis Limlingan, Regina Capital Development Corp. head of sales.
Meanwhile, the peso posted another record drop at 59.17 against the US dollar from its 58.98 close on Tuesday, which Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort said exceeded the previous record of 59.13 registered on Oct. 28.
The local currency opened the day better at 58.95 from the previous day’s 58.96 start, trading between 58.91 and 59.19, resulting in an average of 59.02.
Volume rose to USD1.72 billion from Tuesday’s USD1.47 billion.
Ricafort forecast the next important resistance level for the local current to be at 59.20, with the initial support at 59.
In the near term, Ricafort said the peso continued to show signs of being stable, with the help of inflows from overseas Filipino workers for the Christmas holidays.
“The US dollar/peso exchange rate would still be a function of the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) in terms of interventions/smoothening any volatility, as one of the important factors/catalysts/considerations, moving forward,” he added.PNA
